Sealing means for the hinge edge of doors



Nov. 25, R952 H. J. TROCHE ETAL 2,6l9,204

sEALING MEANs FoR THE HINGE EDGE o? DooRs Filed Jan. 50, 1948 //HERMAN J. TROCHE J. HowARD HoLAN INVENTOR.

Patented Nov. 25, 1952 SEALING MEAN S FOR THE HINGE EDGE OF DOORS Herman J. Troche, Cleveland Heights, and James Howard Holan, Rocky River, Ohio, assignors to J. H. Holan Corporation, Cleveland, Ohio, a

corporation of Ohio Application January 30, 1948, Serial No. 5,244

2 Claims.

The invention relates to sealing means for the hinge edge of a door, and particularly to weathertight sealing means for a door assembly having concealed hinges. The Weather-tight sealing means define a chamber between the door proper and the body for which the door forms a closure, this chamber serving as a space within which the hinges may be disposed and are concealed. The weather-tight sealing means have tightly engaging door and body flanges adjacently exterior of the hinge chamber and these engaging flanges lie substantially fiush with the exterior face of the body. The invention is particularly serviceable for Vehicles used for the installation and maintenance of utility equipment. In this business the use of continuous type and other standard types of door hinges has been unsatisfactory because of leakage and rusting. It is one of the objects of this invention to obviate this difiiculty by disposing the hinges interiorly of the outer door panel between the adjacent door and body edges and making the door hinge edge self-sealing to a weather-tight condition with the adjacent body wall when the door is closed.

The claims of the instant application are directed to the means providing a sealing chamber between a body wall and the door for disposition of the door hinges, and overlapping body and multiple-paneled door fianges forming a flush exterior wall of the Chamber within which the hinges are disposed.

The annexed drawing and the following description set forth in detail certain means illustrating our improvements in door edge assemblies having concealed hinges and weather-tight sealing means, such drawing and description illustrating, however, only one assembly with which the principle of the invention may be incorporated.

In said annexed drawing:

Figure 1 is an outside elevation of a door in which the invention is embodied, a fragmentary surrounding portion of the vehicle body being also shown;

Figure 2 is a broken outside elevation of the hinge edge of the door and the adjacent vehicle body portion, parts of the door adjacent the hinges being broken away, this View being upon a greatly enlarged scale;

Figure 3 is a Vertical transverse section, taken in the plane indicated by the line 3-3, Figure 2; and

Figure 4 is a longitudinal horizontal section, taken in the" plane indicated by the line 4-4, Figure 2.

Referring to the annexed drawing in which the same parts are indicated by the same respective numbers in the several views, a vehicle body is provided with a closure such as the door 2 which, in the form of door shown for purposes of illustration, is a box-like formation having the inner panel 3 and the outer panel ll.

A part of the body I comprises an interiorlyprojecting door frame clearly shown in Figures 2 and 4. The door is mounted within this frame and is materially spaced therefrom as clearly appears in Figure 4.

The door structure has a peripheral fiange on the hinge edge, which fiange overlaps an adjacent outer body panel flange, when the door is closed, so as to provide Weather-tight self-scaling means with the body panel. In the form of the invention shown in the accompanying drawings, this door lapping fiange is formed on the inner door panel 3, this inner door panel 3 having a right angular outwardly-extended side member 5 forming a door edge and having a peripheral lapping fiange 6 of a length sufficient to overlap an adjacent outer body panel l. The outer door panel 4 has a peripheral fiange portion 41 of sufficient extent to lie fiush with the greater part of the inner panel flange 8, the fiange portion 41 extending, in fact, to a transverse plane slightly spaced from the transverse plane of the edge of the body panel 1 so that there is created a narrow opening 8 between this edge of the body panel l and the adjacent edge of the door panel flange portion dl. Furthermore, the fiange 6 is laterally inwardly offset from the plane of the fiange portion 41 to provide an inner lapping marginal flange portion 61, the effect being to bias the flange portion 61 toward the body panel 1 so that, in the closed condition of the door shown in full lines in Figure 4, the marginal portion 61 of the flange 6 closely engages the adjacent inner face portion of the body panel 1 to form a Weather-tight joint. Furthermore, the marginal fiange portion 61 is formed of fiexible material which additionally insures a close weather-tight lapping thereof with the body panel 1. The narrow opening 8 provides clearance for the swinging movements of the outer door panel flange portion Q1 as will be apparent from an inspection of the opened and closed positions of the door shown in Figure 4.

The invention also includes as a part of the composite assembly for the hinge edge of a vehicle door, means providing further concealing of the hinges by a covering of the journal and bearing parts thereof, as hereinafter fully described. In the form shown in the accompanying drawings, these hinges are two in number, are Vertically axially aligned, and disposed adjacent the sealing flange 6 and within the longitudinal planes defining the faces of the door 2 and respectively adjacent the top and bottom of the door. Other hinge arrangements come within the spirit of the invention such as a single elongated rod, for instance, supported by the adjacent portions of the body I and loosely mounted in hinge parts secured to the door 2 interiorly of the plane defining the lapping fiange of the door.

In the particular hinge formation shown, upper and lower hinges II] are utilized, and are of similar formation and similarly assembled eXcept that they are in reverse postions. These' hinges IO have Vertical hinge parts II and complementary longitudinal bracket parts I2. The hinge parts II are secured to the edge 5 of the door 2, welded thereto in the form of assembly shown, and have relatively right angular longitudinallyextended portions II1 to which are secured and through which are passed Vertical hinge pins I3. The manner of securing the hinge portions IIl and the hinge pins I3 shown in the accompanying drawings consists in welding the inner ends of the hinge pins I3 to the upper and lower faces of the respective hinge portions IIl and passing the hinge pins I3 through the hinge portions II1 so as to cause a major portion of the length of the hinge pins I3 to extend below (or above) the hinge portions IIl. These extended portions of the hinge portions pins I3 are provided with journal surfaces cooperating with bearing surfaces formed in vertically-extended angular portions I5 of the bracket parts I2. These bracket parts I2 are formed with base or main parts Id which are bolted to the adjacent respectively upper and lower vehicle body members.

The adjacent surfaces of the lower hinge portion IIl and the angular portion I5 of the lower supporting bracket l2 are held in close fiush relation by the weight of the door and yet permit easy opening and closing movements of the latter and also completely cover the journal and bearing parts of the lower hinge IO.

The fiange 6 of the inner door panel 3 and the flange portion 41 of the outer door panel 4 lap the respective adjacent upper and lower vehicle body portions but are cut away at their upper and lower hinge edge portions, respectively, so vas to permit the opening and closing movements of the lapping panel flange portion 61, as clearly appears,

in Figures 1 and 2.

What we claim is:

1. A sealing and hinge-concealing assembly, for use adjacent the hinge edge of a door, comprising a body having an exterior wall and a door frame laterally inwardly projected from the wall, the combination therewith of longitudinal laterally-opposed spaced door panels, each door panel having an end fiange, the inner panel flange being an angular formation extending from the plane of its panel outwardly to a point adjacent the outer panel fiange and forming a door edge, and thence interiorly overlapping the outer panel fiange, a body Wall flange extended toward the door and terminating short of the terminal edge of the outer door flange, the outer door fiange and wall flange lying substantially in the plane of the outer surface of the wall, said flanges, the 'door edge, and the door frame forming the exterior and side walls of a hinge Chamber between the door and the frame, the inner door flange being formed with a terminal portion bridging the space between the outer door flange and the wall fiange and thence interiorly overlapping the wall flange.

2. A sealing and hinge-concealing assembly, for use adjacent the hinge edge of a door, characterized as in claim 1, in which the terminal portion of the inner panel flange is formed of flexible material, is offset laterally inwardly, and is biased toward the inside face of the wall flange.

HERMAN J. TROCHE. J. HOWARD HOLAN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 862,023 Scrogginsekl July 30, 1907 873,045 Hiltz et al Dec. 10, 1907 1,560,255 Jones Nov. 3, 1925 1,822,251 Thies Sept. 8, 1931 1,871,342 Potter Aug. 9, 1932 1,873,534 Brethen Aug. 23, 1932 1,970,196 Rodemeyer Aug. 14, 1934 2,169,198 Schweller Aug. 8, 1939 2,201,915 Oyen May 21, 1940 2,342,619 Vandenberg et al. Feb. 22, 1944 2,349,711 Faithfull May 23, 1944 2,405,305 Hennessy et al Aug. 6, 1946 2,431,607 Christensen Nov. 25, 1947 2,432,879 Fuqua Dec. 16, 1947 

